Paradigm
App UI design project for the paywall system of the digital magazine Paradigm.
Client
Paradigm
(Fictitious)
(Fictitious)
Category
UI, Editorial
Delivered
October 2021
Background
Paradigm is a digital magazine that features mainly interviews and content related to entertainment and lifestyle. A few months ago, they pivoted to a subscription-based model. When users want to read an article, the paywall pops up and redirects them to an external site to complete the purchase. The new model is not captivating Paradigm’s audience and their metrics indicate users are not satisfied with neither the subscription model or the process for purchasing and checking out. The company is willing to test a single article purchase option as an alternative to the subscription model to improve their customer acquisition.
The challenge
The challenge is to design an app solution, both in terms of interface (UI), flow and experience (UX), that is cohesive with the brand identity of Paradigm and it solves the briefed problems. It should also include both the actual magazine content and must unlock the paywall in the least intrusive way to ensure the good experience of the users. The goal is to simplify the process from when the user is interested in an article to when the purchase is completed and finally reads the content. This solution will also be focused in promoting the single-article purchase model to test the performance and its potential implementation in the future.
Laying out the requirements
The first task of this project was putting together the client brief and translate it into a requirements sheet. From the fictitious nature of this project, I also designed a brand toolbox to be cohesive throughout the design process.
Based on the visual identity and the app requirements, I designed the different levels of the atomic design system applied to Paradigm and their app UI.
Results
The following app flow represents the whole process from the log-in screen, to a full article reading screen post-payment.
Next steps
- Further work on this project could be anchored towards implementing the actual payment options from the gateway providers (ie. Swish, Paypal) and study the most seamless integration in the UI.
- User research or even a beta rollout with users could shed some light on new pain points that have not been identified yet.